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Road Trip 11/18, Part 3

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on December 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

My November road trip to the Southwest continues…

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Grand Canyon, Arizona

This year, the entrance fee at Grand Canyon National Park went up to $35 per vehicle. But I laugh at entrance fees. On Day 7 of my trip, when I arrived at the South Rim entrance gate, I flashed my lifetime Senior Pass and got in for free. Ha!

Actually, the geezer pass itself has become rather pricey. The cost of the lifetime pass is now $80. I got mine 10 years ago for $10. Ha!

For the record, this trip marked (drum roll) my 26th visit to Grand Canyon National Park. It also marked the first time I showed up without reservations.

If you’re familiar with the crowds and the limited accommodations at South Rim, that’s really betting long odds. Vacancies are rare and ephemeral.

Yes, you do have options. A campground and numerous motels are available in the village of Tusayan, seven miles outside the park. But, other than services, Tusayan has few redeeming qualities.

Tusayan is where tourists can watch an Imax movie showing them the wonders of Grand Canyon. Tusayan is where all the souvenirs are made in China.

That morning, my first stop in the Park was the RV campground. No vacancies.

My second stop was the front desk at Bright Angel Lodge. I approached one of the clerks and gave her an engaging smile.

“Hi,” I said. “I’ve been coming to Grand Canyon for 25 years, and this is the first time I’ve showed up without reservations. Any chance you guys have a vacancy, in any of the lodges?”

“Ten minutes ago, the answer was no,” she said. “But we just got a cancellation for a room at Thunderbird Lodge. Just for one night.”

My heart fluttered.

“You’re lucky,” she added. “It’s a room with a canyon view.”

A room with a canyon view? Rooms with a canyon view are for rich people and visiting royalty, not for ordinary folks like me. I nearly swooned.

As it turned out, the view was somewhat less spectacular than I envisioned. The room was on the second floor, and you looked out at the roof of the first floor.

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But it was still a treat.

The weather was beautiful, if a little cold. For the rest of the morning, I walked along the rim, enjoying the views and taking photos. I’ve shot the same scenes countless times over the years, but I keep shooting them anyway.

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I also wandered through the usual gift shops and bought a couple of magnets and decals.

At Hopi House, a gallery featuring high-quality Native American crafts, I came across a small, handsome Hopi seed pot that I didn’t need, but nonetheless was drawn to.

I resisted the urge to purchase it for quite a while.

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Later, while walking along the rim behind Bright Angel Lodge, I noticed a small paper bag that someone had left on the stone railing. The bag bore the logo of Xanterra, the company that runs the shops and concessions. It probably contained souvenirs.

Bright Angel Lodge has a lost-and-found service, so I figured I would take it there.

As I reached down to pick it up, a raven landed on the railing a few feet away, looking at me in that weird, bug-eyed way birds have.

Ravens are everywhere at Grand Canyon. They are accomplished scavengers and thieves with little fear of humans. They’re also sleek and beautiful. I raised my camera to get a photo.

Simultaneously, he hopped closer and grabbed the paper bag.

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He launched skyward, flapping mightily, taking the bag with him. But he underestimated Rocky Smith. I snatched the bag from him in mid-flap, and the little pirate only got a torn piece of brown paper.

Inside the bag were a few postcards, a bookmark, and an “I Hiked the Canyon” bumper sticker. I dropped off the bag at Lost and Found.

That evening, I had prime rib at the Arizona Room, one of the better restaurants at South Rim. Afterward, I walked along the rim for a while. The night was chilly, but I was bundled up.

I marveled, as always, at how the constellations and the Milky Way stand out so clearly at Grand Canyon. Especially in winter, the night sky defies description.

This twilight photo is pretty good. 

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After a beer at the Bright Angel Bar, I retired to my room, pulled a chair up to the window, turned out the lights, and sat contemplating the stars.

The next morning, I checked at the front desk to see if another cancellation had materialized. The answer was no. If I wanted to stay longer, I would have to bed down in Tusayan.

I decided to move on.

In my next post, my trip continues east across the Navajo and Hopi reservations.

 

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Road Trip 11/18, Part 2

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on November 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »

More highlights of my road trip to the Southwest…

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Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff is a fun, funky, free-spirited place. It’s a mountain town, a college town (Northern Arizona University), and a ski resort. You can make day trips to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Young, outdoorsy people are everywhere.

To me, this mural in a downtown alley, one block from Route 66, is typical of the vibe.

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When I’m in Flagstaff, I visit certain attractions, shop at certain stores, and eat at certain restaurants. Which ones will vary a bit from trip to trip, but I have a list of favorites.

On this trip, I wandered through the shops of the Indian traders downtown, and I went to the Museum of Northern Arizona, which has a world-class collection of Native American art and artifacts.

MNA also has one of the best gift shops on the planet for high-end Native American stuff.

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Among my notable dining experiences were a fine breakfast at La Belavia,

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a superb lunch at Diablo’s, home of the Diablo Burger,

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and a soul-satisfying supper at Beaver Street Brewery, where I am partial to the brewer’s platter.

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Earlier, to preemptively walk off some of the calories, I drove a few miles north of town to a picnic area with a great view of Humphreys Peak (which, in a few weeks, will be snow-capped until well into next summer),

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and, for an hour, I walked the trails under the ponderosa pines.

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On this trip, Flagstaff was the only place I stayed two nights. I couldn’t resist.

On the morning of Day 6, I left Flagstaff for Grand Canyon. This was the first time in 25 years I would show up at the park without reservations. It was a long shot, but I was hoping someone had canceled at the last minute, and I would be there to claim the room.

I will explain how that worked out in my next post.

 

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Road Trip 11/18, Part 1

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on November 25, 2018| 2 Comments »

It’s a familiar feeling. When I haven’t been on the road in a while, I start to get antsy.

Thus, not having been out of Georgia since June, and facing a two-week period when nothing of consequence was on my schedule, I decided an RV trip to Arizona was in order.

I made no advance arrangements, which was a rarity. I simply would drive to Grand Canyon and back, camping along the way. The details would take care of themselves.

I headed west via I-40 (the northern route below) and returned home across southern New Mexico and central Texas on non-interstate highways. In Shreveport, I picked up I-20 back to Georgia. About 3,600 miles, round trip.

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Other than the unpleasantness of the Interstate driving, it was a terrific trip. All good, all enjoyable. Free of trouble and disappointments.

A few times, campgrounds weren’t convenient, so I got a motel room. Not exactly a calamity. I also had genuine good luck a few times, as I will explain.

I’m home now, and the adventure is over. My co-pilot Jake was worn out from adventures of his own at the kennel, the nature of which will remain a mystery.

Here are some recollections and observations from the trip.

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Jasper, Alabama

By the time I crossed into Alabama on Day 1, a light rain was falling, and it was obvious that my windshield wipers needed replacing. To deal with that, I stopped at the Walmart in Jasper, just west of Birmingham.

The lady at the automotive counter wrote up a work order. I handed her my keys and went into the waiting room, hoping they would be quick. They were. I was back on the road in 30 minutes.

Two people were in the waiting room: an African-American woman and her daughter of about four. The girl was a tiny thing. The soles of her shoes were 12 inches above the floor. I sat down, nodded to the mom, and smiled at the little girl.

The little girl waved. “Hello, old man,” she said cheerily.

“Alicia!” the mother barked, “That is rude! You shouldn’t call this gentleman an old man!”

Alicia’s chin dropped to her chest. She made a sour face and began to cry.

“You’re wrong, Mama!” she said amid the blubbering, “I was not being rude! He IS an old man! I was just saying hello to be friendly!”

The mom was working on a reply when the little girl turned to me, blinking back the tears. “What’s your name, old man?” she asked.

“My name is Rocky. And you’re right, I’m pretty old.”

“See, Mama! See!”

###

Forrest City, Arkansas

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At the end of the day, I camped at a state park in eastern Arkansas. I took the above photo of the waning twilight as I sat at the picnic table, having a toddy and watching the bats fly around.

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Acoma, New Mexico

The people of Acoma Pueblo are an admirable and interesting bunch. Much of their pottery, jewelry, and other art is tasteful and elegant. Sky City, their historic home atop a remote mesa, is a fascinating place to visit.

And, like many tribes these days, they are savvy and enterprising. To take advantage of — make that cater to — the tourists traveling on I-40, they operate a major complex at Exit 102 consisting of a travel plaza, restaurants, a campground, a snazzy hotel, and a modern casino.

At the end of Day 3, I stopped for the night at the Acoma campground. After hooking up the RV and having dinner at the hotel, I decided to do a bit of gambling at the casino.

When I gamble, which is a rare thing, I stick to the slot machines because they require so little skill. And I have a system of sorts that has served me pretty well over the years: (1) I play the dollar slots, (2) I always bet the maximum for the machine, usually three dollars per spin, and (3) when I’ve lost $100, I walk away.

With slot machines, the payoff is puny when you bet the minimum, but much higher when you bet the maximum. To make a lucky spin count, you bet the maximum. Simple and logical.

I chose a machine, sat down, and, in the course of 15 minutes, played my way through two $20 bills. I won a little and lost a little until the machine bested me.

On the third $20 bill, I won $75, which I cashed out in the form of a voucher.

I continued playing, still betting the maximum. On my last $20, I got lucky again and won $200, which I also cashed out as a voucher.

A few minutes later, my original $100 was gone. I got up, took the $75 and $200 vouchers to the cashier, and departed the casino $175 richer than when I entered.

The campground cost $15, and dinner was $20, so, technically, my take was $140.

I’m sure my modest good fortune didn’t ding the tribe’s profits that day too badly.

###

Gallup, New Mexico

When visiting the Southwest, I’m on the lookout for pottery, rugs, baskets, kachinas, and other treasures for my collection of Native American arts and crafts. I don’t need more stuff, but I like it, and I rarely go home without something new.

A great place to find such items is Gallup, which probably has 40 or 50 retail stores and trading posts that sell the work of regional craftsmen — Zuni, Navajo, Hopi, the pueblo tribes, and others.

When I arrived in Gallup on Day 4, I was open to anything appealing and priced right, but I was especially interested in silver rings. Namely, this inlaid, continuous-band style:

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The design is Zuni. Hopi and Navajo rings tend to be silver without inlays.

Prices range from $10 to $300, depending on the quality of the work and the artist. $50 is about my limit, but good deals are everywhere.

By the end of the morning, I had purchased these three rings for about $30 each:

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When you’re out west, it’s important to take advantage of the authentic Mexican cuisine. For lunch, I went to El Sombrero, a favorite place of mine in Gallup.

El Sombrero serves an excellent chili con carne made with red and green chiles from Hatch, the legendary chile town in the southern Rio Grand Valley.

This is the good stuff, people. The genuine taste of New Mexico.

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###

Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico

After lunch, I left Gallup and drove south to Zuni, which is probably the least pueblo-like of the New Mexican pueblos. No offense, but Zuni is drab and unremarkable. It is, in reality, just a small, dusty town.

Signage isn’t their thing, either. Small retail shops are plentiful, but you have to look hard to find them.

In one such hole-in-the wall establishment, I made a great deal on this handsome Zuni pot, which, FYI, is 4″ tall and 3″ in diameter.

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Nothing else in my collection features a butterfly, so I’m pleased.

From Zuni, I drove west into Arizona, turned north, and by suppertime was in Flagstaff, one of my favorite towns anywhere.

In my next posts, Flagstaff and beyond.

 

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New Territory

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , , , on February 17, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Nothing clears away the mental cobwebs like a road trip. Especially a road trip to new territory.

Which is why, earlier this month, having a block of time when no obligations kept me home, I set out in my RV to see the Texas coast.

Somehow, at my advanced age, I’d never been there. I made no reservations. Had no plans to visit Austin or San Antonio. I was more interested in seeing the countryside and the small towns.

February, I admit, is a terrible time to go to the beach. It was a spur-of-the-moment trip out of simple curiosity, and I was stoked.

My plan was to drive down to Port Arthur, head south along the Bolivar Peninsula, cross to Galveston Island, and the rest would take care of itself. As is my custom, I would camp in state parks along the way.

Before the trip, I had a feeling I knew what I would find down there. And, pretty much, I was right. My observations:

First, much of coastal Texas is, no surprise, tourist-oriented. It being February, the attractions and shops were a bit sleepy, but no doubt they’ll be ready for the onslaught of vacationers when the season arrives.

Second, large parts of the beachfront are private and residential. I passed long stretches of homes, second homes, time-shares, summer rentals, hotels, motels, and resorts that go on for miles, unbroken except for occasional empty lots for sale.

Now and then, if you look carefully, a sign will identify a small public access point to the beach. You know — the beach you sometimes glimpse, over there beyond the private property.

Third, the terrain is flat and featureless, covered by a modest layer of low-growing vegetation. Bays and inlets are rare. So are sand dunes. No wonder hurricanes surge many miles inland instead of glancing off the coast.

Fourth, I was unsurprised to find that so much of the coast is heavily industrialized. You regularly encounter not only oil wells, refineries, and petroleum processing facilities, but also giant chemical plants and manufacturing operations.

I passed numerous industrial plants the size of shopping malls, with thousands of cars in the parking lots, a sprawling sea of gleaming, steaming pipes, and generic names that reveal nothing about the nature of the business.

Names like Texas Heavy Industries. MHI International. Direct Energy. Varco. Schlumberger — all quite mysterious to a passing tourist. The one thing they seem to have in common: belching smokestacks.

In sum, coastal Texas is what I expected. I was neither pleased nor disappointed. It is what it is.

My curiosity satisfied, I enjoyed a leisurely drive south to just short of Corpus Christi.

Along the way, I sampled the local cuisine as often as possible.

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Delicious char-broiled oysters.

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A superb shrimp po-boy.

And I had experiences not available back home in North Georgia. I shot this video on the ferry to Galveston Island.

To get from Georgia to Texas, I followed the Interstate highways, always a stressful and unpleasant experience. Once I arrived, I switched to ordinary federal and state roads. They were, almost without exception, well-maintained and lightly-traveled.

In fact, I was so impressed with the non-Interstate routes that I followed them, exclusively, on the return trip to Georgia.

Specifically, from South Texas, I drove north on U.S. 77 to Waco, then followed U.S. 79 to Shreveport. There, I picked up U.S. 80, which parallels I-20, and followed it across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and into Georgia. In Macon, I turned north on U.S. 129 back to Jefferson.

Those four routes are divided four-lane highways with minimal traffic. In Texas, the speed limit is 75. In the other states, it most often is 65.

Rarely did the roads bypass the towns. Which was fine with me.

The trip home was an easy and pleasant ride, and I remember it primarily for two reasons.

The first reason: the afternoon I spent at the Lowndes County Interpretive Center, located midway between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. The Center is a museum, part of the Park Service’s “Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail.” It chronicles events leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

If you recollect your history, blacks were demonstrating in Alabama in the early 1960s to protest the use of literacy tests to block them from registering to vote. At the time, the voter rolls in Selma were 99 percent white. That was not unusual around the South in those days.

In March 1965, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, police attacked and beat a group of marchers. The episode quickly prompted a massive organized march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery, led by Dr. King and other civil rights leaders.

When Gov. George Wallace refused to offer protection to the marchers, President Lyndon Johnson nationalized 1,900 members of the Alabama National Guard and assigned them to escort the demonstrators.

The direct result of all that was the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting.

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The film and exhibits at the museum are excellent. Moving and effective. Much more powerful than I expected. They reminded me of a time when the courts and our political leaders — most of them, anyway — were on the right side of important moral issues.

I miss those days, when I was optimistic about the future. When the government made me proud. It pains me that our progress toward fairness and social justice has slowed since those times.

Progress has slowed because, for decades, the terrified conservative masses — you know, the ones clinging to their guns or religion — have been steadily descending into paranoia, inflamed by the right-wing media, enabled by Republican politicians, and now, for crying out loud, abetted by Putin. No wonder we have a vulgar, incompetent clown as President.

But, hey — I digress.

The second memorable moment of my return trip to Georgia happened earlier that same morning in Selma. When I stopped for a red light near the center of town, I looked to my left and saw a man dancing.

Why the man was dancing, or to what music he danced (note the earbuds), I have no idea. I don’t know if it was a spontaneous, one-time thing or if he did this often.

Was he celebrating? Was he high? Are mental issues involved?

Whatever the answers, I was compelled to capture the moment on video.

From my standpoint, the music on my radio (Blue Monday, New Order, 1983) was a nice complement to the performance.

Road trips are, indeed, the perfect way to clear the mental cobwebs. Especially road trips to new territory.

 

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Clever Girl

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , , on August 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

More on my road trip earlier this month to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine…

———

My final night in New England was in Bennington, Vermont, in the southwest corner of the state. The next morning, I sucked it up and headed south on a succession of interstate highways, down through New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.

At the end of the day, I stopped in Winchester, Virginia, near the north entrance to Shenandoah National Park. I would have an early start on the Skyline Drive.

The next morning was clear and nicely brisk. No one was on duty at the Shenandoah entrance station. A sign read “Pay when you leave the Park.”

I had the road to myself. I turned off the radio, rolled down the windows, and headed out.

Two minutes later, a young adult black bear emerged from the greenery on the right side of the road about 20 yards ahead. I stopped immediately and grabbed my camera from the passenger seat.

The bear — which turned out to be a female, as you’ll understand directly — glanced at me, then ambled across the road.

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When she reached the grassy strip on left shoulder, she stopped and looked toward me again.

I eased forward, camera at the ready, until I reached her. At that point, my car was paused in the right lane. The bear was 10 feet away on the left side of the road.

Although she showed no aggression, I was apprehensive. Could I romp on the gas and get away if she rushed me? I decided I could.

The bear stood stoically on the grass, looking at me. I took a burst of photos that I knew would be keepers.

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Why she remained there instead of continuing on her way was puzzling. She seemed in no hurry to leave.

But I had my photos, and I figured it was best not to prolong the encounter. I tossed my camera onto the passenger seat and slowly drove on.

Mere seconds later, I watched in my rear-view mirror as a bear cub emerged from the woods and scampered across the road to join mom.

Clever girl. She had been waiting for me to leave, so it would be safe for the youngster to cross the road.

No cars were in sight in ether direction. In fact, I hadn’t seen another car since I entered the park. Undoubtedly, driving backward on the Skyline Drive is illegal, but I put the car in reverse anyway, and I began inching back toward the mama bear and her cub. The two of them sat quietly on the grass at the edge of the road, watching my approach.

This time, for reasons I still don’t understand, I grabbed my cell phone instead of my Nikon. I raised the phone and took three photos.

Two were hopeless blurs. This was the third.

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Thinking back on the episode, it’s obvious why I could never be a professional photographer. Having taken several shots, I became concerned that I was hassling the poor bears, and I felt compelled to go away and leave them alone.

A real photographer would have continued shooting with both cameras, firing off hundreds of shots using a variety of angles and settings.

But, no, I drove away, leaving the bears posing perfectly for God-know-how-many-more awesome photos that I do not have.

What a jerk move.

A few miles south, I arrived at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center. It was 9:00 AM, and two female employees were just opening for the day.

I went inside, looked at a map, browsed around the gift shop, and purchased a Shenandoah refrigerator magnet featuring a bear cub.

“Betty, I saw a mother bear and two cubs on the way here yesterday,” one employee said. “About a mile south.”

“Oh, the cubs are so CUTE!” the other woman gushed. Apparently, everyone loves Shenandoah’s black bears.

When I told them I had bear photos taken 10 minutes earlier, they were thrilled. They fawned* at length over the mother-and-cub photo on my phone.

The bears, the ladies told me, are very mellow. They keep to themselves, but they’re acclimated to cars and people. The mother bears have learned how to deal with cars, and their cubs know to stay hidden until the mom gives the okay to come forward.

Bears, as you may know, are smart creatures, probably on a level with dogs and pigs. Some studies say they have longer memories and are more devoted and attentive as parents.

Judging from her size, the mother bear I encountered was young. The cub probably was her first.

But she already understands people and the park roads, and she knows how to care for her baby. That knowledge will stay with her every season she has cubs.

Clever, indeed.

* Fawned. That’s a pun.

 

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Wicked Week

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , , on August 19, 2017| 2 Comments »

I just got back from a road trip to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Most of it was new territory for me, so I went slow, took my time. I had a wicked good week.

The only downside to the trip was getting there from Georgia, which meant two long days of miserable Interstate driving. But, once I arrived, rural New England was peaceful, pleasant, clean, and green.

The residents probably would take offense at this, but I saw little difference between the three states. Basically, the terrain, the weather, the architecture, and the accents were all the same.

Everything there has a decided Yankee vibe. An interesting change from back home.

In New England, I noted, Dunkin’ Donuts is like McDonald’s in the rest of the country.

Firewood is for sale everywhere.

And I had the feeling that the locals were enjoying the pleasant summer weather only guardedly and temporarily. They were poised, I sensed, to switch back to winter mode at any time. After stocking up on firewood, of course.

 

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Typical green scene in Vermont. Or maybe New Hampshire.

Having no special agenda, I drove a number of off-the-beaten-path routes (as recommended by my copy of National Geographic’s Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways) and ended up in some interesting places.

In Burlington, Vermont, for example, frivolity reigned.

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Burlington, I discovered, is a major haven for hipsters, hippies, and other free spirits. Back in the 80s, Bernie Sanders was Burlington’s mayor.

The highest peak in the region, Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, is the “home of the world’s worst weather.” The summit is accessible via a harrowing eight-mile auto road, which was extra scary the day I drove it due to dense fog. I took these photos at the top in a chilly rain.

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One of the most magnificent places in the area is Acadia National Park, which takes up most of an island on the coast of Maine. It combines lush greenery with the rocky and majestic Atlantic coast.

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Probably not so serene and idyllic in January during a nor’easter.

Weather wise, this is the most pleasant time of year in New England, so Acadia was maxed out with tourists. Even finding a place to stop and get photos was a challenge. In another month, the crowds of leaf-peepers will triple the traffic.

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The tourist mecca of Bar Harbor is the gateway to Acadia. It’s a quaint harbor town and home to a sizable lobster fleet. Maine lobsters, they say, are more abundant today than ever before.

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Which brings me to another reason I made the trip: to enjoy an authentic New England lobster roll.

I succeeded. Three times.

FYI, lobster rolls come in two varieties: Connecticut style (served warm with melted butter) and Maine style (served chilled with mayo and a splash of lemon). Most locals prefer the Maine variety, and, in fact, I never came across a place that served them warm.

The first two times I had them, they were delicious, but somehow, a bit lacking. They were stingy on the meat, and the buns were lined with shredded lettuce, which diluted the taste.

Moreover, I had them in restaurant settings, which was all wrong. Too civilized. And the food was prepared out of sight and brought to my table like some ordinary meal.

I wanted genuine. I wanted rustic. I wanted the thing cooked where I could see it. I wanted it served outdoors, on a paper plate, as I assume all self-respecting Maineiacs prefer it.

And, fortunately, I stumbled upon a place that, in my mind, served lobster rolls in the proper manner.

It happened as I drove back to the mainland from Acadia. Up ahead was a small trailer in a gravel parking lot. A large, hand-lettered plywood sign out front read LOBSTERS.

The trailer was surrounded by tables and chairs under awnings, and a dozen people were queued up in a line that disappeared into the trailer. I pulled into the parking lot.

Behind the trailer, teams of people were carrying baskets of lobsters from several pickup trucks to a table behind a row of steaming pots.

Under a canopy, two men handled the cooking. Under another canopy, teams of pickers deftly collected the meat.

After a few minutes in line, I was inside the trailer. A stern, matronly woman with forearms like Popeye took my order: lobster roll, chips, a pickle, and a beer of my choice from the display case. The bill was $14. She took my money and sent me outside to find a table.

While I waited, I wandered around and observed the proceedings.

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Then, dinner was served.

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And wicked good it was. Ample meat, lightly seasoned, nicely chilled, no extraneous filling, and sublime taste.

My beverage, by the way, was from Sea Dog, a brewery in Bangor. I chose Wild Blueberry in honor of the small, sweet New England variety of blueberries currently in season.

I savored the meal slowly and deemed the trip a success.

———

Finally, what road trip would be complete without souvenir t-shirts?

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For the return to Georgia, I decided to follow the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway through Virginia and North Carolina. This would take longer, but it would spare me a lot of Interstate driving.

I was rewarded with an early-morning bear encounter on the Skyline Drive. That story in my next post.

 

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Trip 25

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on January 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Part 4

Wednesday morning after a hearty Canteen breakfast, I set out east on the Clear Creek Trail. It was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and initially was used by mules coming up from Phantom Ranch, but now is for hikers only.

Halfway up to the Tonto Platform is Phantom Overlook.

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The CCC’s stone bench and other nifty trail work.

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Phantom Ranch from Phantom Overlook.

Half a mile later, at this bend in the trail, you get the first view of the Colorado River looking upstream.

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The trail continues the long climb up to the Tonto Platform. The Park Service claims to perform regular maintenance up there, but it appears to be minimal.

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After a few more bends of the trail, you get this awesome downstream view. Ordinarily, I avoid the word awesome, but in this case, it fits.

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The Black Bridge (lower left) is where the mules cross the river.

The golden cottonwoods at the bend in the river mark the mouth of Bright Angel Creek. Phantom Ranch is along Bright Angel Creek half a mile upstream.

For scale, consider this:

– The Tonto Platform on the south (left) side of the river — the prominent ledge halfway up — is half a vertical mile above the Colorado.

– The South Rim, the highest point in the distance, is a full vertical mile above the river.

A closer view:

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Look close, and you can see the Silver Bridge, where most hikers cross the river. It’s in the shadow just before the Colorado disappears around the last bend.

Three miles from Phantom Ranch, you arrive at what I consider one of the grandest sights in Grand Canyon: the view looking up at Zoroaster Temple.

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I know these things are subjective, but I think Zoro is a phenomenal landform. It’s beautiful and majestic, with amazing symmetry.

And it becomes even more impressive when you are standing close, the arms looming on both sides.

Magical.

Many people observe that being at Grand Canyon is like a religious experience. I certainly see it that way.

As it happens, so does Bob Dylan. These are the closing lines from Dylan’s “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie” from 1963:

You can either go to the church of your choice
Or you can go to Brooklyn State Hospital
You’ll find God in the church of your choice
You’ll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital

And though it’s only my opinion
I may be right or wrong
You’ll find them both
In the Grand Canyon
At sundown

————

Early Thursday morning, the mule riders left Phantom Ranch and returned to the South Rim via the South Kaibab Trail. Starting out, we still had pleasant, shirt-sleeves weather.

But about halfway to the rim, that abruptly changed. Dark clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped. The coats, gloves, and earmuffs came out. It was the beginning of a storm that would leave Northern Arizona and most of New Mexico in the deep freeze for the next week.

The South Kaibab is an exposed, ridgeline trail, and, especially near the rim, the wind can be brutal. For the last mile of the ride, we sat hunched in our saddles, shivering in an icy, 40-mph wind.

I could feel Twinkie leaning, leaning, leaning against it. I did my best not to interfere.

————

So far, I have no specific plans for another trip to Grand Canyon, but the odds are pretty good I’ll go again.

Yes, I do believe I’ll go again.

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Trip 25

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on January 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Part 3

So, there I was, newly arrived at Phantom Ranch and gloriously happy — joyful, ecstatic, stoked, take your pick — to be there.

Mostly, my thoughts were on the following day, when I planned to hike out the Clear Creek Trail for the day. The hike would be a bit strenuous, a climb of 1,500 feet up to the Tonto Platform and a distance of six miles round-trip, but the views make it worthwhile.

After a steak dinner at the Canteen, I walked down to the boat beach and the mouth of Bright Angel Creek. By the time I got back, night had fallen.

At 8:00 PM, the Canteen reopened, and I staked out one corner of a quiet table. For the next hour, I nursed another beer and leafed through some books from the library. The Canteen has a wall of books devoted to Grand Canyon history and geology.

At 9:00 PM, I said goodnight and headed back to my cabin; I didn’t want to miss the arrival of the full moon. I had experienced a full moon at Phantom before, so I knew what to expect.

To prepare for the moment, I got comfortable on the bench in front of the cabin, opened the container of brandy I had brought along in my saddlebag, and poured two fingers’ worth into a plastic cup. I commenced to sipping and waiting.

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My cabin.

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The view toward the Canteen.

Thanks to a few strategic streetlights and light from the canteen, I could see my surroundings clearly.  Now and then, guests walked by on the main path 20 yards away, headlamps flickering through the foliage. Overhead, the east wall of Bright Angel Canyon was growing steadily brighter as moonrise approached.

In the spirit of the moment, I drank a toast to the River Gods, and whatever other deities might be listening, and I thanked them for my good fortune.

I toasted Phantom Ranch and thanked it for years of incredible memories.

I toasted Twinkie, who had been so calm and cooperative during the morning ride. While I spent Wednesday hiking, Twinkie would be rewarded with the day off.

By the time I toasted Grand Canyon in its entirety, the brandy and the emotion caught up with me, and tears came to my eyes.

Dammit, I thought, You never used to cry at anything. Now look at you.

But the tears flowed because, at that moment, I was blissfully content.

Then, just in time to keep me weeping like a fool, the Moon sprung from behind the rim. Phantom Ranch was bathed in a brilliant, most sublime light.

I gasped, leapt to my feet, and took photos, all forgettable.

As I returned to the bench with a sigh of satisfaction, a slight movement on the right side of the path caught my attention. I peered intently at the spot.

Seconds later, barely 10 yards away, a fox emerged soundlessly from the undergrowth. He paused on the path, looked carefully around, and spotted me.

My presence didn’t seem to concern him. He studied me calmly for a moment and continued on his way.

I blinked in disbelief. The incident was almost surreal. Had I imagined it?

Of course not. A passing fox just looked you in the eye.

Blubbering anew, I raised my cup and toasted the fox.

The next morning at breakfast, I told a staff member about the encounter. I knew ringtail cats live around Phantom Ranch, and you spot them occasionally, but I wasn’t aware of a fox population.

Yes, she said, foxes do reside at Phantom. What I saw was a gray fox. They’re quiet, harmless, and fairly common. The Park Service is especially fond of them, she noted, because they hold down the rodent population.

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In my next and final Trip 25 post, my hike along the Clear Creek Trail.

 

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Trip 25

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on January 12, 2017| 2 Comments »

Part 2

On Tuesday at 7:00 AM, we mule riders assembled at the corral at the top of Bright Angel Trail. The wranglers gave us instructions, assigned us a mule, and adjusted our gear. We were ready for the trip to the bottom of Grand Canyon.

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At 7:30 AM, we started the 10-mile ride to Phantom Ranch.

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The most important bit of advice from the wranglers: trust your mule.

For practically the entire trip, they told us, you’ll be riding uncomfortably close to the edge. Trust your mule. Avoid the temptation to lean away from the edge; doing so will cause the mule to compensate and lean toward it.

In case you’re wondering, mules are not the “easy way” into Grand Canyon. Unless you’re a seasoned rider, a mule trip is almost as strenuous as hiking.

Riding uses muscles you didn’t know were there. And, especially on the trip down, it isn’t easy to stay in the saddle. You aren’t lashed down, and nothing says you can’t go flying over the handlebars.

But I hung on, and I trusted my mule, and five hours later, we arrived.

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With a groan, I climbed down from my faithful steed, Twinkie.

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I dropped off my gear at my cabin (at right below, across from the Canteen).

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After a celebratory beer, I spent the rest of the afternoon taking photos.

When we left South Rim that morning, the temp was 35 degrees. At Phantom Ranch, it was 72, calm, and sunny.

That’s fairly typical of the Canyon floor in winter, because all that rock collects and radiates the heat of the sun.

This also explains why summer nights at Phantom sometimes remain above 100 degrees.

Within an hour, the muscles in my legs had recovered from being astride a mule for half a day. I wasn’t wincing and hobbling around any longer, and I was ready to explore.

For starters, I stopped at the mule corral and said hello to Twinkie.

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In Part 3, I drink a toast to multiple deities under the light of a full moon.

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Trip 25

Posted in Trip Reports, tagged , on January 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Part 1

When I started this blog in 2009, among the first stories I posted was Bliss, a recollection from my childhood about the magic of waking up at the beach and savoring the sounds, sights, and smells of the moment.

Well, last month I was blessed with a similar magic moment, and it happened, fittingly, at Grand Canyon, my go-to vacation spot for lo these many years.

Ah, Grand Canyon. I certainly have a thing for the place. My December trip was visit #25.

My family and friends see this as something of an obsession — harmless and amusing, but a bit irrational.

Not really. I simply discovered a place that fascinates me, pleases me, speaks to me — and I’m in the process of exploring it.

Every trip has been unique. Carefully planned to be that way. It hasn’t been like, say, going to the Lincoln Memorial or the Bronx Zoo 25 times.

Allow me to elaborate.

Trip #1 in 1994 was a one-week raft trip down the Colorado River. Trip #2 in 1995 was a two-week raft trip.

Trip #3 in early 1996 was a hike to Phantom Ranch, the guest ranch/lodge on the floor of the Canyon. Trip #4 in late 1996 was a hike from North Rim to South Rim.

Over the years, I’ve hiked in Havasu Canyon and Paria Canyon. I’ve camped twice at Toroweap in the remote western region. I’ve taken four river trips and four mule trips. I’ve backpacked on the Tonto Platform. I’ve ventured off-trail in some crazy places.

I’ve hiked the Canyon with my sons, separately and together. I’ve gone rim-to-rim twice. During the course of all that, I’ve stayed at or passed through Phantom Ranch, one of the most terrific places on earth, 14 times.

And no two of those trips were alike. None.

Long ago, I promised myself that when the thrill is gone, I’ll be done with the place. If the day comes when I don’t get butterflies about going, or if the hikes and the scenery seem repetitious, or if I stand at South Rim contemplating Cheops Pyramid or Zoroaster Temple and my heart isn’t in my throat, I won’t go back.

But, having just returned from there, I can report that the thrill is not gone. Nothing about it was ho-hum or repetitious. I’m still exhilarated by the sheer grandness of Grand Canyon.

My December trip was built around a mule ride to Phantom Ranch. I booked the trip in winter because in the off-season, you’re allowed to stay two nights. That gives you an extra day to hike, explore, and enjoy the Grand Canyon vibe.

As a further incentive, mule riders stay in private cabins — unlike hikers, who either stay at the campground or in one of the dormitories (two dorms for men, two for women, 10 beds per dorm).

To fully appreciate this story, you need to know a few things about Phantom Ranch and how it functions.

The place is, quite literally, a desert oasis. It’s rustic, and it requires genuine effort to reach, but it’s perfectly comfortable once you get there.

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Phantom Ranch consists of a campground, cabins and dorms for the staff and guests, the Canteen where meals are served, a ranger station, mule corrals, a heliport, a boat beach for river rafters, and assorted support facilities (water treatment plant, laundry, maintenance sheds, and so on).

The facility was built in 1922 where Bright Angel Creek meets the Colorado River. The Kaibab Trail, which runs from North Rim to South Rim, passes through the spot.

At any given time, the population at Phantom is about 100 people, give or take.

The center of activity is the Canteen, which serves breakfast and supper, provides box lunches for the hikers, and sells supplies, snacks, and souvenirs.

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Nightly from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM, it becomes your friendly neighborhood tavern.

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So, there you have it. In Part 2, my trip gets underway with a mule ride down the Bright Angel Trail to Phantom Ranch.

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